Rizzoli & Isles, Always
by navnit
Summary: A R&I x Castle Crossover: Alexis is visiting her new friend Mandy in Boston when a man is murdered in front of her, Jane and Maura are called in to investigate all the while dealing with the aftermath of Casey's proposal. Set at the end of R&I 4x12 and Castle post 6x13. RIzzles and Caskett.
1. Of Murders and Proposals

**Rizzoli & Isles, Always**

_AN: This is a crossover fanfiction between Rizzoli & Isles and Castle, Rizzoli & Isle picks up at the end of 4x12: Partners in Crime and Castle after 6x13: Limelight_

_Yes this is a femslash fiction, no I'm not lesbian nor female, I would not categorize myself as straight either so I might have some genuine insight into these types of relationships , apologies before hand if I offend anyone who isn't homophobic with inaccuracies regarding a homosexual relationship, if you are homophobic please kindly go and f**k yourself._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles or Castle._

**Of Murders and Proposals**

Alexis Castle was not one to frequent concerts and if asked two months ago she would have vehemently denied even knowing who the hell Mandy Sutton was and yet here she was two months later waiting outside the back entrance of a concert stadium in Boston for her friend, the very same Mandy Sutton, to come out. She had admitted to Mandy in private that yes she did like her songs, she had all her albums on her iTunes, however she definitely disliked attending concerts with loud noises and stadiums full of sweaty, semi-inebriated people all jam-packed so tightly that it was almost impossible to not rub against each other. Forever a quiet soul, she had always preferred to stay at home whenever her friends decided to attend one concert or another that always seemed to be in town, so it was a wonder that she had agreed so readily to travel all the way to Boston to meet her friend at a concert, she had even offered free tickets for front row seats to entice her into coming.

She clutched those four tickets in her hand right now having the full intention of returning them to Mandy; she didn't need to be enticed into meeting her friend anyway, who had recently split up with her boyfriend again, this time amicably, but Mandy was still prone to bouts of depression stemming from the fact that her own mother had committed murder to keep her life a luxury. Alexis was usually on alcohol watch duty whenever Mandy did one of her concerts so she really didn't need much persuading to drive over. Besides with her recent breakup with her year long boyfriend Pi, she had changed her major to Forensic Pathology and wanted to visit the Boston Police Department if she had the chance. She had recommendation letters from both Lanie and her soon to be step-mother Kate, which would allow her to observe a case and the forensic science that went along with it. But that was not what she was excited for, she had studied everything that was needed about forensic science when interning with Lanie, what excited her was that the Boston Police Department was home to one of the most accomplished pathologists out there; Dr Maura Isles.

Alexis had been in contact with Dr Isles via email for the last two weeks discussing her visit and repeatedly thanking her for the opportunity to watch her work. Dr Isles was so accomplished that not only was she in charge of the entire Boston Pathology Department but also the whole Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she was the most consulted ME in the United States, even Lanie had freely admitted to periodically consulting with the renown Doctor. She had explained to Alexis that there were people who were good at what they do and people who were best at what they do, and it didn't get anymore best then Dr Maura Isles.

Suffice it to say that Alexis was fan-girling more over her than most adolescent boys inside were over her new friend. She looked around noticing it was getting dark, she wished her friend would hurry up it was getting late and she wanted to check into her hotel room, she also needed to call up Dr Isles and setup and appointment.

Just as she was getting ready to call up her friend she saw a car pull up at the far end of the stadium. For some reason the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, she quickly silenced her phone and turned off the screen, her instincts were telling her to stay low and be quiet, for some reason she felt like she was in extreme danger, she only hoped that Mandy didn't choose that moment to walk out, the men getting out of the car didn't seem to have noticed her but if the back door opened they would surely see them both so she bit her lip and prayed for the best all the while sliding down the wall to crouch low to the ground.

The men seemed be speaking English but they were too far away to hear. The were two distinct voices that she could count, she saw the short stockier one open the trunk of the car and drag out what looked like a bound and gagged person out of it, she didn't have to be a genius to know what was going to happen next but there was nothing she could do. She wanted to desperately call the police but knew that if she turned on her phone the light from the screen would be spotted immediately.

Alexis watched helplessly as a the taller man stood behind their prisoner and trained a gun on him. They knew as well as she did that no sound could be heard amidst all the noise, it would be the perfect cover. She saw the tall man's mouth moving, he was talking to the prisoner. All he could do was vehemently shake his head at whatever they had asked and all Alexis could do was watch as her tears rolled silently down her cheeks as one of the most ruthless crimes a man can do was committed right in front of her. She realized as split second before that when they pulled that trigger there was no way she wouldn't scream and from what she knew of her voice she knew they would hear it so she made a fist with her hand and shoved it forcefully in her mouth just as the man pulled the trigger.

Alexis' eyes widened as she watched the prisoners head snap back from the force of the bullet entering the base of his scull. She forcefully bit down on her hand drawing blood as the man fell face forward into the dirt, they both shot him three more times making sure he was dead. They searched the area for anyone who had seemed to witness their crimes, once they were certain of their safety they both got in the car a drove off.

Less then five minutes later Mandy found her friend crouched down against the stadium wall shaking like a leaf tears spilling, immediately growing concerned. She crouched down I'm front of Alexis and put her hand on the redheads shoulder.

The contact shook Alexis out of her daze, she immediately stood up almost causing Mandy to topple backwards. She frantically yelled at her friend. "Mandy quickly call 911, I just saw someone commit murder." she said and took off towards the far end of the stadium as she ran towards the fallen body with Mandy hot on her heels doing as she was told.

Jane waited for Maura to ask the inevitable question as they watched Casey push Patrick Doyle Seniors chair out to a group of people who recognized him. Maura 's full attention was on her friends as she asked, "Unless what?" feeling like her whole world was hanging on the answer to this very question.

Jane stared straight into Maura' s eyes, "Unless I marry him." she replied softly watching for her reaction. She was sure that her beautiful friend would do what she usually did and hide her emotions and support her decision but Jane knew that her eyes would betray her like they always did, they always spoke of so many things that the ME rarely said. So it was quite a huge surprise for her that her prediction was wrong; oh her eyes did express much, they filled up with tears, but her face visibly dropped and without another word she turned on her heels and quickly walked away, presumably not wanting Jane to see her that way.

Jane called after her once and when she didn't turn back she looked down at her phone but then shook her head, she would track down her best friend later, right now she had something else to take care off, Maura's reaction was all that she had needed to give her answer to Casey.

She walked over to the man in question her strides confident and sure, for too long had she become a puddle of goo over him. She had carried those feelings from a twenty year old crush and transferred it over to her current self when she wasn't even a semblance of her younger self anymore. She had been through so much, from Hoyt to Doyle, from Dominic to Bianchi. She could never even begin to explain to him about everything she saw and everything that she still carried with her and she didn't even want to.

She had been willing to ignore that niggling feeling in the back of her mind but Casey's rushed proposal had pushed it right to the front of it; ever since he had come back into her life he had been stringing her along, keeping her hooked on him while he went to fight a war knowing that she would be waiting for him, because she would have been, she _had_ been waiting on him for the past eight months hadn't she? She had felt needlessly guilty when she wasn't there for his recovery from his surgery and so relieved and happy to have him back that she had immediately fallen in bed with him. Thinking that maybe sex would make up for not being there, for sleeping with Gabriel? She didn't even know, but now she realized that in her infatuation with Casey she had lost herself, she had become someone she had promised that she would never become; she reminded herself of one of those simpering bimbos that used to follow Casey around back in high school.

She had failed to realize exactly what kind of relationship Casey was roping her into, with the guilt trips and the constant cancellations in dates and Skype time, he had been rooting inside her a deep sense of insecurity that made her feel as if she wasn't good enough for him. It was done so that when he did come back she would fall happily into his arms and be with him, which she had done. But what Casey probably thought was the final nail in her independence's coffin was actually a huge wake up call.

She was not far gone as to not see an ultimatum when it was presented to her. Either marry him or he leaves for Afghanistan, forget ultimatum it almost seemed like emotional blackmail to her. When she really thought about what it would mean to accept a marriage proposal from Casey meant, she had almost kicked him out of her apartment. Very early on Jane knew that Casey didn't like her being a cop, she had put up with it due to her infatuation and due to the fact that he had not confronted her about it but she knew, and she also knew that one day he would ask her to quit, his reasoning would be that if he could give up the Military for her why couldn't she give up the Force for him. But the main thing that got to her was Maura. Her Maura. Accepting any proposal would inevitably mean losing the closest connection she ever had to a person. It was no mystery to her that her relationship with the honey-blonde Medical Examiner was the most important thing in her life, even if she wasn't head over heels for her and the very idea of not getting to spend enough time with her, not getting to see her every morning, noon and evening made her want to hurl.

Thinking about her feelings for Maura got her thinking about why she was dating Casey in the first place; when she had shot herself outside the precinct, all she could think about was saving Frankie and Maura, but when she felt her life leave her body as the EMTs all she could feel was regret; regret for not getting to see her beautiful face again, for not getting to smell her hair or hear her speak endless Google speak and she knew that she was in love with her best friend and would never get the chance to tell her. Grateful to be alive, she had resolved that she would admit it to her at the Award Ceremony but then she had shown up to the event on the arms of Dr Sluckey and it was like Maura's blatant straightness slapping her in the face. She had smiled the good smile and faked happiness for them while all the while she was screaming inside but then who would show up but Casey, a consolation prize but a prize none the less. She allowed herself to see past his blatant flaws and convince herself to ignore her unrequited feelings for her best friend.

It had worked for a while until she started realizing that ignoring feelings didn't make them disappear. Her attraction towards Dr Isles increased with everyday that went by as did her certainty that the ME would never feel anything towards her other than a close friendship. If it wasn't for her revelations a few weeks back she wouldn't have been sure what her answer to Casey's proposal would have been today. Unlike the ME she had a perfect poker face when Maura flirted with Dominic, or talked about Ian or made googly eyes at BT, but that still didn't mean it didn't hurt. It had gotten so bad that she almost considered sleeping with Giovanni in order to distract herself, but then Maura had come back; there was Jane licking her wounds after an unsuccessful chat with Casey, thinking about how much clothes Maura and BT still had on, trying to eat her Kale in silence and her gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful friend slid in opposite her seat. Her offhand shrug at the absence of the Bomb Tech lifted Jane's spirits considerably. She had enjoyed a wonderful dinner, silently fantasizing it as a date, and went home alone but happy.

From that day on Jane noticed a marked difference in Maura's interactions with her, she smiled at her more, touched her more, stopped talking about men to her, found reasons to spend more time alone with her, almost every night was spent at either ones homes and while not all of them ended in sleepovers _most_ of them did, if Jane wasn't too careful she would equate Maura's actions to her own the first time she realized how deep her feelings ran for the ME, but Jane _was_ careful; she didn't dare hold out hope in case she was wrong, she would enjoy the closeness as long as Maura gave it before circumstances caused them to seize most of their interactions. Casey's arrival dimmed Maura's mood considerably, she clearly hated not being able to talk to her as much, no sleepovers, no early morning coffee, or runs. Jane could clearly see the disappointment in her eyes and Maura's anguish caused her pain, so when Casey dropped his M-Bomb on her she decided it was now or never. She was never going to say yes to him anyway but as long it was there she could use use his proposal to push Maura into confronting her feelings.

So when Maura reacted to Casey's proposal the way Jane had hoped she would she decided the gloves had to come off. Her decision was made, she was tired of sitting on the sidelines with the consolation prize when she knew that she could give the ME the world. She was taking back control of her life and she would be damned if she let Casey or even Maura herself stop her.

She strode over to him, bringing her Detective persona to the fore feeling most confident in the skin she was most used to, she met him half way and handed him her house key. Casey looked at the key and back at her confused. "My answer is no, Casey." He went to speak but Jane stopped her. "Please be gone by the evening, leave the key under the welcome mat." She spoke with such authority that all Casey could do was nod stupidly, she tipped her head slightly and turned on her heel turning her back on him, she needed to find Maura.


	2. Of Declarations and Consolations

**Of Declarations and Consolations**

Maura stared out into the slowly darkening horizon contemplating things that she had never contemplated before, she had spent her whole life categorizing and organizing everything and everyone into their proper place, keeping everything in order so that she could understand and also avoid them, she had avoided any emotional connections since she was twelve because she knew how much it hurt when that connection was broken. She was rational and looked at things scientifically so it stood to reason that the only irrational thing in her life; her affections for a certain brunette badass Detective would be responsible for the unraveling of her carefully preserved and tidy world.

She sniffled and dabbed her eyes with the tissue she had pulled out of her purse, she shook her head angry at herself. She was Dr Maura Isles, she was an accomplished successful and damn good looking woman, she could have anyone she wanted; Jane had taught her that, but what if the one thing you want was never yours to take.

Maura had never denied her attraction to her best friend, ever since she had that verbal spat in the coffee shop with her dressed as a prostitute, she had liked her. She never understood the norm of categorizing oneself as belonging to a certain group; being a lesbian, gay or bisexual never really appealed to her, she looked at individuals and engaged with them based on their character. Unfortunately for her, as Jane constantly points out she had the worst judge of character most of the time, to which she would always want to point out that she had chosen Jane, so maybe she wasn't that bad.

The truth was the only reason she had approached the brunette that day was because she was in fact checking her out. Underneath all that badly done make up she saw that strong jaw, her perfectly defined zygomatic arch, her high cheekbones, her perfect skin, those toned calf muscles, she could have gone on and on. And while their first meeting had been anything but friendly, when Maura had finally been told that she was an undercover Vice Detective she had immediately confronted the woman, Jane not being homicide rarely if ever visited the morgue but from that day on she was almost a permanent fixture there.

Their friendship picked up so quickly that before Maura even realized it she had become the most important person in her life; the ME never had made such a bold statement as that before, even to herself, but with Jane it seemed like a foregone conclusion, something that couldn't be helped. And then Casey had come into their lives; before him Maura had been content to keep her feelings to herself, she knew that the most important thing to Jane was her job and Casey, looked to be that typical domineering faux alpha male types, probably wouldn't like her working as a Detective. She knew that when that conversation would come up, Jane would choose her job and they would be over and Maura would have Jane all to herself again.

But over time as the relationship built Maura realized that Jane was slowly changing herself for Casey, she acted like a school girl with a crush whenever she was around the Lieutenant Colonel, it was really disturbing, the incident with his legs and the bullshit that she put up with, out of pity not love, was disgusting. It was one of the reasons she kept pushing for her to talk to him, she was acting like Bass did when meeting new people, her Jane who wasn't overcame her fear to beat 'The Surgeon' _twice_ was afraid of confronting a disabled Army Officer who she supposedly loved.

And then Casey had comeback to Jane, after Jane told her what happened Maura understood, when Casey had healed he had been assigned back to Afghanistan and so in order to make sure that Jane was devoted to him he visited her. He didn't tell her before sleeping with her that he was leaving again, even Joe Grant had had enough 'guts', as Jane would say, to tell her before hand. But she supposed that then, just like Grant, he wouldn't have gotten 'lucky' with her. Maura had fumed silently for days about that, it had worked though; Jane was absolutely smitten with the man so much that Maura occasionally tuned her friend out whenever she went on one of her Casey induced rants.

Maura didn't have a hateful bone in her body but she could safely say that with the way Casey Jones treated her friend, he was officially on her hit list, but for the first time her friend was happy in a relationship and she felt bad about not being happy for her. She knew why she wasn't happy, she wanted to be that person that made her that happy but since that wasn't possible she tried to be as supportive as a best friend should be. And that is what she needed to be right now, a supportive friend so she wiped her tears away and prepared for the inevitable confrontation with her friend, she would even lie if she had to she had to to appear happy for her friend as the alternative could mean losing her forever.

Jane walked out of the Retirement Home her head turning to look for her best friend, she knew that Maura would not go far, even if she was sad her manners dictated her to pull herself together and be happy for her friend, it was in _Jane's_ nature to run and avoid things. Maura was headstrong and she never ran from anything no matter how much it had the potential to hurt her.

And her thoughts were proven correct as she spotted her honey-blonde hair blowing in the wind as she sat on a park bench staring out into the sunset. They were still in the Retirement Home grounds, Maura had apparently spotted the beautiful garden that the residents spent their days in and was using it to calm herself.

Jane saw her talking to one of them and whatever he was saying made her smile, she was relieved to see that it was a genuine smile; it gave her hope that maybe she hadn't caused her friend a lot of pain. She shook her head, regardless she was going to make sure that Maura didn't have anything to cry about any more this evening and if she could help it, then even for the rest of their lives.

She squared her shoulders and walked briskly up to her as the man talking to Maura moved away on his walker. The depressed look on her face as she spotted the brunette almost made Jane stumble but then she covered it up with a fake Maura smile; it was the smile she always had when she talked about Casey, Gabriel and Martinez; the three men who ever had had any impact on Jane's personal life. It was easy enough to recognize because it was so different than the one that she reserved for Jane and Jane alone, _that_ smile almost nearly brought Jane down to her knees every time it was directed at her.

Jane finally reached the perfectly poised woman on the bench and fell less than elegantly on the seat beside her. She rested her elbows on her knees and leaned forward to look at her friend who had purposefully blocked her face from the brunettes view with a curtain of her ever perfect hair. Jane peered up into the MEs green eyes which were dull with residual tears. She smiled at her friend hating that she had caused her this pain but happy that they had finally, finally reached breaking point, Jane was determined that after this day everything in their relationship would be pinging at a high note, she could not afford to make her friend so sad because of her own insecurities.

Jane took a deep breath and spoke up. "So," she opened softly. "You left before I could finish." Her voice was free from any accusations or judgement, it was just stated as an observation.

Maura spoke up immediately. "I'm sorry, Jane," she said still not looking at her. "I don't kn-"

Jane interrupted her. "Stop," she said quietly and Maura quieted down. "I don't want you to get hives on my account Maura."

Jane couldn't see it but Maura had blushed a bright red at her words but she smiled at her best friends consideration. It was these kinds of things that she did that made Maura fall ever deeper in love with her and for the life of her she didn't know what she was going to do. She knew that any minute now Jane was going to ask her to look at her friend and when she would start asking questions her body would betray her as usual and reveal her true feelings. Maura was terrified of what her admissions would do to their friendship.

Jane sighed and said. "Maura, I could very easily find out why you reacted the way you did back in there." she pointed back at the Center. "But I know that you don't want me to find out so I won't ask, I will respect your privacy." she heard her friend let out a sigh of relief and smiled to herself; they weren't going to get off that easily, this conversation was way past it's due date. "But, I think I already know why you walked out with tears in your eyes and I so hope that I'm right about this Maura because if I'm not than this might destroy our friendship forever."

Jane looked at her friend and let out a huff, she was still screening her face and she hated it. "Maura I'm going to take all the pressure off of you, all you need to do is listen to me, but I also need something from you Maura." she paused and watched as Maura tilted her head indicating she was listening. "I need you to look at me." she continued. "Can you do that for me please?" When Maura didn't move she put a gentle had on her elbow, "Maura? You never hide from anything, you take it head on, you dissect it, you observe it and you make the mystery and uncertainty go away. Please don't hide from me Maura, I promise you what I have to say will make you happy. At least I hope it will, if I'm reading the signs right."

And then finally her beautiful friend lifted her head and looked through tortured eyes at her.

Jane gasped at the vulnerability she saw in Maura's eyes and hated herself for putting her through this. Her instincts took over in that instance and all her planned words and thoughts she had practiced and rehearsed in her head flew out the window. She leaped forward and engulfed her friend in a fierce hug and all she could say was the one thing she hoped would alleviate her friends fears. "I said no, Maura." she gasped out squeezing her eyes shut to stop her tears. "I swear I was never going to say yes." she kept repeating it in Maura's ear hoping it would reassure her.

And when Maura heard her friends word she couldn't hold it back anymore, all the worry, all the hurt and pain caused by the idea of Casey and Jane getting married, came out in a gut wrenching sob of relief and then she started to cry in earnest. She didn't even know why she was crying, all she knew was that after the roller coaster of emotions coursing through her for the past few weeks, this moment and this certainty was the only thing that she could hold onto, whatever happened before didn't matter, and at this moment whatever happened afterwards also didn't matter, what mattered was the here and now and the fact that she was in Jane's arms and that the love of her life wasn't marrying someone else. That was all that mattered.

Jane sighed as she felt Maura break down, her heart sank and her chest tightened, the tears she had been holding back finally spilled out of her eyes as she let go and silently cried with her best friend and the person who she loved most in the world.

When she felt Maura's sobs subside she pulled back and watched as Maura dabbed at her eyes. "Thank god my mascaras water proof." she said unintentionally breaking the ice.

Jane burst out laughing at her and Maura seeing her friends amusement also started laughing. They must have been a sight two grown woman sitting on a bench in a garden initially seeming disagreeable and then crying in each others arms and then laughing hilariously. It was fortunate that most of the people around them had seen much more things in their lives to spare a thought to their weird behavior.

When their finally got control of their amusement Jane posed her question. "So do you want to hear what I wanted to say?"

Maura nodded cutely, "But now that I know that you're not marrying Casey I have something to say to you too."

Jane closed her eyes and groaned. Knowing that the weepy part was over with everything seemed funny and light all of a sudden. "But Maura," she almost whined. "I wanted to go first."

Maura grinned at her friend. It seemed that after their bout of emotions they both had a pretty good idea of what was going on in each others heads and it was now only a matter of who said it first.

"Why don't we say it together?" Maura suggested smiling at the brunette.

She nodded at Maura's idea although she had other plans. "On three?" she asked and waited as Maura counted.

"One."

"Two."

And as she opened her mouth to say three Jane moved forward and kissed her. Maura's countdown was lost in her moan as she was kissed like never before. It was so much different than kissing a man, Jane's lips were soft and yet they were firm and sure as they moved against hers, unfortunately it was over to soon and before she could start kissing back Jane had pulled back to look at her.

"I love you Maura," she said breathlessly, her lips were tingling. Even without Maura kissing back it was the best kiss she had ever experienced, she couldn't wait to do it again she already knew that she was going to end up being addicted to those lips if she wasn't already. "I have for a long time, I never said anything because I didn't think that you would ever feel that way about me, but this past few weeks I've just been getting this feeling that you did." Maura wasn't saying anything, just touching her lips where Jane had kissed her and now that her feelings were finally out in the open she started doubting herself. "Was I wrong?" she asked self-consciously. "Should I have told you first before trying to kiss you."

"No!" Maura yelled and then blushed, she had been so lost in the fleeting feel of her best friends lips on hers that she barely heard what she was rambling about, when her last words penetrated her addled mind she reacted in haste not wanting Jane to regret their first kiss. She continues more softly. "No Jane, I didn't mind you kissing me but Jane you said well say it together." she whined.

Jane smirked. "Yes well I also said that I wanted to go first." she replied pleased with herself now that Maura said she didn't mind.

Maura scowled at her for a moment. "Well I believe it's my turn now." she stated and without preamble she grasped her friend by the lapels of her shirt and pulled her in for another kiss, this time determined make it longer than their first. She felt Jane bury her hand in her perfectly made up hair and for the first time in her life she didn't give a damn about fixing it up after the make out session. She snaked her own hand in the brunettes dark tresses and moaned into her mouth as Jane deepened the kiss. She was in pure and constant bliss and felt herself almost try to crawl into Jane as she tried to get as close as she could.

Maura felt like she could have gone on kissing Jane for hours but of course when the need to breathe became too much they had to separate. Jane touched her for head to Maura's not wanting to pull back from her. They both had silly lovesick grins on their faces as they smiled at each other.

Maura leaned in to kiss her once more; this time reminiscent of their first kiss and then she pulled back enough to look at the detective in the eyes. "I love you too Jane, I have told you that before but more that, I have been _in_ love with you for such a long time that I don't even remember when I first realized it." she smiled at her friend and saw her smile mirrored in Jane's eyes.

Jane reached up with her hand and caressed Maura's cheek and she grabbed her hand and held it to her face closing her eyes and relishing in her friends uninhibited touch. She opened her eyes and kissed her friend directly on that very familiar scar on her hand watching as Jane's eyes closed in wonder.

Maura reached out her free hand and touched the brunettes cheek lightly causing her to look back up at the honey-blonde. "I have never met anyone as brave and selfless as you in my whole life. Your scars don't make you unattractive Jane," she said correctly interpreting Jane's need to close her eyes at the kiss. "it's a part of and a testimony to the kind of person you are. Do you remember the first time we ever laid in a bed together?" she asked bringing Jane's hand down to her lap and softly caressing her friends scar.

Jane nodded softly her attention fully on the slow delicate touch with which her friend rubbed her scar. "I could never forget."

Maura nodded. "Me too, but not because of Hoyt. It was because when you rubbed your hand next to me in bed and told that you 'have never been more scared in your life' my heart broke a little bit for you and I fell even more in love with you. All I wanted to do was reach out and kiss your pain away, make you forget everything and just focus on us."

Jane smiled at her. "You know when I asked you why you were sleeping next to me?"

Maura smiled at the memory. "Yes, you asked if we were having a sleepover or was this my way of saying that I was attracted to you."

Jane nodded. "Even with all the tension with Hoyt I kind of wished that you had admitted that you were attracted to me, you know. Because I knew that if there was one person I could ignore Hoyt for, it was you."

Maura melted at that and leaned in to kiss her but, as was usual whenever there was something crucial happening, Jane's phone went off. They both glowered at her pant pocket as if it was a worse serial killer than Charles Hoyt, and when Maura's phone went off she rolled her eyes while Jane groaned. Before Maura pulled away she grabbed Jane's face and gave her a searing kiss, "Promise me that we'll continue this, that you won't run from this."

Jane returned her kiss with one of her own, she understood Maura's concern, she did have a tendency to run whenever it came to things dealing with the heart. When she pulled back she nodded. "I promise Maura." and they both pulled out their phones and answered.

"Rizzoli."

"Isles."

Jane nodded and noted down the address, Maura said she would be there soon and they both hung up. "Murder down at a Concert Stadium," said Jane. "Come on, the sooner we're done the sooner we can get back to us." She got up, pulled Maura up and they both walked hand in hand out to her squad car.

* * *

Kate Beckett groaned as the masseuse worked on her lower back, she was in heaven and it was all because of her thoughtful and loving fiancé. As much as Castle might get on her nerves and irritate the hell out of her, she had to admit that he knew how to treat a lady.

Ever since Alexis had broken up with Pi she had been a constant presence in the apartment and while Kate loved Castle's kid to death she had to admit she had been missing Castle a little. He had deemed it his fatherly duty to cheer up his daughter out of her post breakup phase; which meant watching zombie movies while eating ice cream, lots and lots of cooking, video game marathons and never ending games of laser tag, and while she had to admit that Kate had enjoyed that last one a lot, it still meant that there wasn't a lot of alone time she could have with her fiancé and it was grating on her. Then there were the cases; they had solved four homicide cases in the last few months and it was getting to her, so when Alexis had announced her plans to visit Mandy in Boston, where she was having a show, she was quite surprised that Castle had readily agreed to let her go and not only that but he even offered to let her drive his precious Ferrari.

When Alexis had almost skipped upstairs to get ready, Kate had looked at him and merely raised an eyebrow in question. Castle had sidled up to her and planted a searing kiss full of promise on her lips and whispered in her ear. "I've missed you." and walked away feeling quite proud of himself.

The next day after seeing off Alexis he had announced that he had asked Gates for a day off for the both of them and she had granted it. Then with a flourish he had taken out an all out deluxe massage session gift certificate, _without_ a happy ending, at one of the best beauty spas in the city. When Kate had looked at him in confusion he had responded that he was taking her out tonight and that she would be treated like a queen to make up for his ignoring her for the last couple of weeks.

Kate had protested that she didn't mind him taking care of Alexis and that his daughter should always come first, but he was hearing none of it. He had declared the loft off limits for the day as he prepared to wow her off her feet and that after her full day of being pampered he would pick her up at her apartment where she would get ready with the help of his mother and Lanie.

And now as Kate lay down on the softest massaging table ever and felt those skilled hands work out the kinks in her neck, she had absolutely no idea why she had even protested; this was heavenly, Kate was feeling relief from pains she didn't even know she had.

Just as she was getting into her hour long massage she heard her phone go off, the masseuse spoke up, "Ma'am we don't allow cellphone usage in the massage rooms."

Kate glared back at her. "Yes well I'm a homicide detective, I need it on and on me at all times," she said getting up and wrapping the robe around her body. "and don't ever call me ma'am again." She said before fishing her phone out of her purse and answering it without looking at who it was.

"Beckett."

"Kate." said a scared voice that she immediately recognized.

"Alexis?" she asked immediately concerned. "What's wrong, honey?" Kate was immediately in maternal mode, there were only a few times that Alexis had called her instead of her dad and every time she had tried to be a better adult in her life than either of her mother's had ever been.

"Kate, I just saw...saw a man get m-murdered, " she heard her say but then all she could hear was Alexis start to cry.

Kate was already on the move out of the elevator as she tried to console the distraught girl. She got outside and signaled for a taxi with her phone in one hand and her clutch in the other and dressed in only a robe she was quite a sight but she didn't give a damn; her little girl was in danger.

As she got into the first available cab she pulled out her badge, "Police emergency take me to Tribeca now."

The cabby nodded and sped off, Kate was already back to consoling Alexis. "Honey? Alexis listen to me," she paused as Alexis gave the tearful confirmation that she was listening. "Okay, now are you alone?" she asked gently. When she said no then the detective breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, are you with Mandy sweetie?" when she said yes Kate again spoke up. "Okay I need you to give the phone to her honey, I need to make sure that you both are safe," she closed her eyes as Alexis sobbed saying she wanted to keep talking to her that she was scared and needed to hear her voice. The tears she had been holding back came forth and she couldn't help but cry for her. She fortified herself; as much as she herself wanted to keep on talking to Alexis as well she needed to make sure that they both were safe. "I won't hang up Alexis, just put me on speaker so that Mandy can hear me too."

When Alexis gave the confirmation that she was on speaker Kate spoke up. "Mandy? Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here Detective Beckett."

"It's Kate sweetie, did um did you see what Alexis saw as well?"

"No, she was waiting for me out back, for the show to finish. I'm so sorry Detective Beckett, I should have come out sooner."

She shook her head, "It's not your fault, Mandy, and it's Kate remember? Now do you have your security detail inside the stadium?"

"Yeah I do."

"Good, call them and tell them to get one or two guys posted to you location, tell them to be discreet and do not say anything about a murder until they get to you, okay honey."

"Yeah."

"Now has anyone touched the body, tried CPR?"

"No, A-Alexis kept us back, he-he's dead, s-shot a-a lot of times."

Kate closed her eyes at the idea of Alexis witnessing that, she could hear Mandy almost breaking down as well. "Okay good job Alexis, you did good. Now are the cops on their way Mandy."

"Yeah, Alexis told me to call 911."

"Okay that's good," Kate replied just as the cab pulled up outside the loft. "Alright I need you two to cooperate fully with the local police okay? Don't hide anything and don't leave anything out. Alexis?" she said to her soon to be step-daughter.

"Yeah, Kate?"

Kate could tell that Alexis had taken the time to get herself more composed but she was still sniffling. "You're father and I are on our way, okay honey. I need you to stay strong for me okay?"

"Yeah I can do that."

"Now do you want to talk to your father now or wait till he gets there?"

"I can wait, if I talk to him now then I don't know if I would be able to talk to the police," she heard Alexis give a shaky laugh. "And I wouldn't want to punish you with an even more upset dad than he is already going to be."

Kate smiled at her small attempt at humor even though tears were still flowing down her cheeks." Alexis don't worry about me, if you want to talk to him than its fine."

"No, it's fine, I'll talk to him when he gets here, talking to you is enough."

Kate sighed at the fluttering feeling it gave her in her stomach to hear Alexis admit that. She saw that their floor was approaching. "Okay honey, I'm almost at the loft, I'll call you back on the plane, I'm going to hang up now and explain all this to your father."

"I'm sorry Kate."

"Hey," said Kate comfortingly. "None of this is your fault okay?"

"Yeah, but dad was planning this whole elaborate dinner."

"Alexis, that is the least of mine or your dad's concern, you're what matters. Now I'm going to hang up, you keep safe and do as the police say, we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Okay bye, Kate."

"Bye, I uh I love you kid." she hated saying it over the phone but it didn't make it any less true.

"I love you too, Kate." she replied after a beat and Kate could hear the smile in her voice before they cut off.

Kate took a deep breath as the elevator dinged on their floor, _Oh boy this was not going to be easy_ Kate thought to herself as she knocked on their door.

"Beckett, "she heard Castle call from the inside, "I recognize that knock, what are you doing here?" he asked as he flung the door open.

Kate watched as his face went through several emotions, surprise at her presence, hilarity at her attire, but when he spotted the obvious tear tracks and her nervous biting of her bottom lip, he grew immediately concerned.

"Kate, what...?" he trailed of questioningly.

Kate figured it was best to let it all out in one go. "Rick, Alexis just called, she just witnessed a murder in Boston."


	3. Of Witnesses and Suspects

_A/N: Hey again, thanks for all the wonderful reviews I'm glad people are enjoying this story, unfortunately while I feel that there is really nothing more I can add to this chapter, I feel that it is a little unfinished. I admit to find myself a little disappointed with it at the end. Feel free to point out to me what I might have done wrong and I'll try to fix it in the next one. All feedback is appreciated as usual and now; on with the story!_

**Of Witnesses and Suspects**

Alexis cut off her end of the line and looked down at the phone in wonder. Kate had said that she loved her, she couldn't explain why it made her feel so good, after all so many of her dad's past girl friends had tried to smarmy up to her father by feigning interest in her. Gina had certainly said it countless times during the years she was Alexis' step-mom but it always sounded like Gina felt it was her duty as her father's wife to love his daughter, her mom had said it countless times, of course, but that was just a cursory affection that she bestowed upon her daughter whenever she was in town. She never doubted that her mother loved her but she was sure that Meredith loved a lot of other things just as much and certainly loved _herself_ a lot more than her daughter.

But she really felt like she had earned Kate's love, that she wasn't just saying it out of obligation or to get into her Dads pants. As a matter of fact the first time that Kate _had_ gotten into her dad's pants she and her soon to be step-mom had not been on very good terms at all and it was obvious that for a long gone time she had been trying to get Alexis to accept her as a part of her father's life.

Alexis had long ago determined that Detective Kate Beckett was the best thing that had ever happened to her dad and now even though it had happened over the phone they had both accepted each other into their lives.

Mandy was confused to see slight smile on her red headed friend but as she was on the phone with her head of security she couldn't exactly ask her friend about her misplaced demeanor.

As Alexis put her phone back in her pocket she heard the sirens approaching the crime scene. "Well that was fast." she said to Mandy, still sounding like she had slight a head cold.

Mandy nodded. "Yeah they have a precinct not far from here."

Alexis looked at her friend curiously. "And how exactly do you know that?"

Mandy looked down bashful. "I uh was arrested for DUI after my last show here." she replied. "I spent the night in lockup sleeping it off."

Alexis couldn't help but grin. "I bet that was fun."

Mandy grinned back. "The parts I remember were actually," when Alexis looked at her confused she elaborated. "There was this cop, apparently he was the one who pulled me over and he had no idea who I was, which was so refreshing and he was _so_ nice."

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Just nice?"

"Oh he was too old for me, but yeah he was hot, you know with an Italian accent? " she admitted. "And he let me off with a warning asking me to be careful next time."

"Yeah I'll bet," the red head replied sardonically. "And your flirting with him didn't help at all did it?"

"Well it might have helped, a little." she said and they both laughed but it was still subdued both painfully aware of the man lying in front of them, his life cut tragically short.

Alexis turned away from the body, she normally could easily stand to see dead people without feeling queasy but somehow every time she saw the GSW to the head she was taken back to watching as the man's head snapped back with the force of the bullet.

"Come on,"she said pulling her friend back. "They won't want us standing so close, and I feel like I'm about to throw up."

"If I wasn't on an empty stomach I'd be right there with you," Mandy replied. "As it is I've been dry heaving ever since I saw that body."

Alexis glanced at Mandy. "Thanks for taking my mind off things with your DUI story." she said softly.

Mandy shrugged but smiled. "It's true," was all she said.

They waited silently for the sirens to get closer, the first cruiser they saw stopped just near the body, the second one coming from the other direction stopped near the girls.

The driver got out and shined a light on them. "Boston PD, hands where I can see them." Both girls put their hands up and waited. "You the ones who called in the 911?"

"Yeah," said Mandy. "It was me, I called it in."

The officer walked up to them, he was still hidden from the light so they couldn't see his face. "And may I see some ID miss?"

Mandy quickly pulled out her Drivers license.

"Miss Sutton," he quickly pulled out a small pen light, "I sure hope you're not under the influence again miss." shining his light in her eyes.

Mandy squinted against the light. "Officer Rizzoli?" she asked finally placing the familiar voice, she shook her head. "No, I'm completely sober."

Frankie nodded. "That's good, so uh you said in your call that your friend witnessed the murder?" he asked looking at the red headed girl stranded next to Mandy.

Mandy nodded at Alexis who was blinking against the harsh light. "Yeah, this is Alexis, she saw the whole thing."

Frankie nodded and moved towards her. "I'm going to have to take your statement for the detective working this case. Officer Nelson will be roping off the crime scene and I'll need you two to stay and talk to the detectives before they clear you to leave." Both girls nodded and followed Frankie back to his cruiser to give their statements.

Jane and Maura arrived at the scene ten minutes later meeting Frost who had arrived a few minutes after Frankie.

Jane nodded at him. "What'd we got."

"Shooting, victim was bound; both arms and legs duct taped. He was shot execution style and then shot six more times by two assailants."

Maura, who was already crouching down next to the body spoke up, "Detective Frost, I would think after all this time you would refrain from speculating. There is no way of knowing how this man was killed, how many times he was shot nor how many people shot him without doing a proper autopsy."

Jane was looking at Frost, they both knew Dr Isles well enough to not be offended by her reprimand, she discredited Jane's speculations every day but what caught the detectives eye was the fact that Frost was looking like the cat that ate the canary.

"You know those things for a fact don't you Frost?" she looked around when Frost nodded. "We have a witness." she concluded. "Where?"

Frost pointed towards the ambulance, "She bit herself trying to keep quiet. EMTs patching her up," he handed Jane a clipboard. "Frankie took her statement."

Jane glanced down at the document only taking in the names; she preferred to hear witness accounts first hand. She glanced down at her..._girlfriend?_ And asked. "Maura? You done? I need to talk to the victim, you can be my polygraph."

Maura looked down at the body and sighed. The crime scene tech had not found any ID so they didn't know who he was. There wasn't much she could do here so she got up and nodded at CSU to take the body to the morgue.

She looked up at Jane and smiled coyly, Frost had gone to talk to Kodak who had just arrived so no one could hear them. "You don't really need me there to tell if the witness is lying."

Jane smirked at her. "Yes well, I don't really feel like letting you out of my sight," she paused thinking that she was being too clingy. "Do you mind," she asked concerned, she was aware that they were at a crime scene but her relationship with Maura was the most important thing to her, she needed to know if she was messing up.

Maura smiled touching Jane's forearm lightly but longer that professionally appropriate. "Of course I don't mind," she replied. "You know that the only reason I go out with you to interview people is to spend more time with you."

Jane's eyes widened at the admission, she knew the the only reason she agreed to let Maura accompany her to interviews was because she wanted to spend more time with the ME, but she had no idea it was mutual. She had to valiantly resist kissing that upturned set of beautiful lips, instead she blushed and looked away.

"Come on let's see what our witness has for us." Jane said and started walking towards the ambulance with Maura followed pleased with herself for getting her detective flustered.

They walked around the back of the open ambulance and saw two beautiful girls barely out of their teens huddled together under a blanket. The redhead had a bandage on her left hand and Jane recognized her as their witness.

"Miss Castle?" Jane asked stepping forward.

"Alexis." she said nodding.

Jane smiled. "I'm Detective Jane Rizzoli-," she said starting their introduction but was interrupted by Maura.

"Alexis Castle?" she asked stepping forward. Jane's head went from Maura to Alexis in confusion.

Alexis blushed awed by meeting her hero in person. "Dr Isles, I thought you might be working this crime scene."

Jane smiled at Alexis. "Would you excuse us for a moment?" she asked and without waiting for a response dragged Maura behind the ambulance out of view of everyone. "You know this girl?" she asked astounded.

Maura nodded brightly. "Not personally but we have been communicating via email for the last couple of weeks, she is a promising young student interested in my field of work. I was supposed to meet her tomorrow so that she could get some first hand experience from my expertise in Forensic Pathology."

Jane nodded along with everything she was saying. "Great," she said when Maura finished. "You can conduct this interview Maura."

Maura grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah, you already have rapport, she'll be more open to you than to me."

Maura nodded seriously. "Yes I believe you are correct in that assumption." she smiled and leaned up to peck her lips, "Thanks Jane." she said and almost skipped back to the witness.

Jane still a little stunned by the unexpected kiss waited a moment before following the ME back to Alexis.

Maura sat next to Alexis as Mandy stood up to stretch her legs. "So Alexis, can you tell us exactly what you saw?"

Alexis nodded. "I was waiting for Mandy to finish her show and come meet me out back, I don't like concerts all that much so I chose not to attend. Mandy was going to accompany me to my hotel room. It was getting late and I wanted to schedule my appointment with you Dr Isles." she said looking up at her idol.

Maura smiled at the girl. "Oh Alexis please, call me Maura."

She gulped and fidgeted her hands nervously. "Okay, Maura?" she asked testing her name, it sounded wrong not using her title, when Maura nodded encouragingly she continued. "Well just as I was going to call Mandy and ask her to hurry up, I saw a car pull up," she looked up at Jane. "I was too far to see the plates and it was too dark to see the colour, I do know it was a sedan though, since the um victim was pulled out from the trunk."

Jane nodded understandingly while Maura took Alexis' fidgeting hands in her own. "That's alright sweetie," the endearment slipping from the honey-blond unconsciously. "Just tell us what you _did_ see."

"I uh I saw a short squat man pull the victim out from the trunk and make him get on his knees at gun point, from the way he was walking I could tell his hands and feet were bound and he must have been gagged as well because he wasn't making a sound, when the short man's partner, a thin tall man asked him something he shook his head 'no'," she again looked up at Jane, "I couldn't tell what they were saying, I was too far away, sorry." Alexis said looking down at her hands encased in Dr Isles.

She was disappointed in herself, after everything that Lanie, Kate, her Dad and Forensic Pathology had taught her she still barely had anything that could help with the investigation. She could feel the tears pricking at the corner of her eyes and she viciously pushed them back, she was going to tell them everything she could remember, even if it didn't help much, she owed it to the man lying lifeless at the crime scene.

"After that the taller man trained his gun on the victim from behind, aiming at his head, and pulled the trigger." She looked at her bandages hand. "I uh bit my fist to stop myself from screaming. They got out of there pretty fast after killing him and almost as soon as they left Mandy came out looking for me, when she found me I told her to call 911 and ran up to the man. When I saw he was dead I backed away and told Mandy to keep back." she looked at Maura earnestly, "I didn't want to contaminate the crime scene."

Maura nodded gently at her. "You did good Alexis." she said and Jane nodded her approval. Alexis was probably the most accurate witness she had ever heard from. Most people needed to get past the trauma to talk lucidity enough but with her background in Forensic Pathology she had pushed back her shock and tried to help the cops as much as she could. Jane hated to think what would happen when the days events caught up with her.

Just as Jane was getting ready to clear them Alexis spoke again. "I uh called my dad's fiancé after checking on him, I hope you don't mind."

Jane exchanged a look with Maura, she didn't like unauthorized people knowing about ongoing cases but Alexis had been distraught, what could they do, it was natural to call someone you love for comfort after a traumatic event.

Alexis watched the silent communication between Detective and Pathologist and hurried to explain. "She won't do anything wrong, she is um a homicide detective in New York. She and my dad are on their way here."

Jane's eyes widened. "Wait _Castle_? Father marrying NYPD homicide detective, you're _Nikki Heats_ step daughter?" Jane gasped looking at the redhead in amazement.

Maura looked at Jane weirdly, since when did Jane get fangirly.

Alexis sighed. "You read my father's books?" she asked.

Jane grinned. "Do I ever, I mean before it was okay with the CIA and the military stuff with lots of gruesome murders but ever since he started writing the Nikki Heat series, I mean the details are just spot on and the way that Heat and Rook solve the crime are just so genuine. And Raley and Ochoa, Roach I mean-"

Maura put a dainty hand up. "_Who_ is Nikki Heat?"

Jane gasped and looked at her like she had committed the original sin.

Alexis spoke up. "Nikki Heat is a character in a series of books written by author Richard Castle, who happens to be my dad, she is based upon a real life Homicide Detective Kate Beckett who my dad has been shadowing for the past five years for 'research' for his books and whom my dad proposed to last year and as of this year they are engaged to be married."

Maura blinked at Alexis' succinct delivery. "Wow that almost sounds like a fairy tale," she looked at Jane. "And how come I've never heard of this love of murder mystery novels from you."

Jane smirked at her. "A little mystery is always a good thing Maura," she replied. "A girls gotta have a few secrets."

Alexis looked from Jane to Maura confused; that last sentence sounded a little like what Kate would say to her dad when she was in her teasing mood.

Jane noticed her speculative gaze and realized how her last words could be interpreted she immediately tried to steer _that_ ship to safer waters. "Oh I'm so sorry for talking about these things in front of you, I'm sure you must be very exhausted, I'm not acting very professional am I?" Jane asked self-consciously.

Alexis shook her head. "No no its fine, it took my mind off of things to tell the truth, and I'm tired of people treating me like I'm made from glass." she said standing up from the ambulance. "I'm glad you were so genuine, I've seen how Kate and her team behave at a crime scene, I understand why you do it."

Jane nodded and led the two women back out to the crime scene. They saw Mandy speaking to Frankie again, "My friend has a small crush on Officer Rizzoli, he's your brother right?"

"Yeah, what gave it away," Jane said sarcastically. "And he's too old for either of you."

Alexis nodded blushing, "Yeah," she replied. "She knows too." indicating Mandy.

"So, did you drive here?" asked Jane.

"Yeah, my cars out in the parking lot, I can drive myself to my hotel room."

Maura spoke up for the first time in a while. "Mandy is not going to be with you in your hotel room am I correct?"

"She has her own penthouse apartment, yeah,"she replied. "Why?"

"Well apart from the fact that after what happened tonight, you shouldn't be alone and also since you are here to observe my work I feel it is only my duty to offer you my guest house for the duration of your stay. "

Jane looked at her friend curiously as Alexis' eyes widened. "Oh no, I couldn't impose. I'll be fine in my own and maybe I'll ask Mandy to stay with me."

Seeing Maura's crestfallen face Jane decided to jump in, she might not understand her best friends need to have the redhead under her roof but she hated to see her sad. "Alexis, you possibly witnessed a gang related murder. The situation is such that your life may actually be in danger; at this point an easily traceable hotel room is a place I'm not comfortable placing you in. It would ease both my worries if you were somewhere relatively safe and with someone I trust completely. I assure you Maura has everything you could possibly need in her home."

Alexis looked stricken at the implication that she had indicated that she wouldn't be comfortable at Dr Isles home, she was concerned about being in danger but she hoped that the Boston police would be able to keep her involvement under wraps for now.

She guiltily turned to Dr Isles and smiled at her hopeful face. If four hours ago someone had told her she was going to be living in Dr Maura Isles house for the duration of her stay in Boston she would tell them that they were crazy. But now as she nodded her acceptance and watched Maura's face light up in delight all she could do was to along with whatever bizarre turn her life had taken.

Jane smiled as Maura was happy once again. "Okay Maura, I'm assuming that you're going to do the autopsy tomorrow?" Already predicting the MEs response the second she said the 'forbidden' word.

Maura narrowed her eyes at the detective. "Jane you know I don't like it when you assume," she said indignantly, but when Jane just stared at her she sighed. "however, your are right I'm going to wait for the morning to begin."

Jane nodded. "Good, because I still need to process the scene, " she replied. "Alexis can give you a ride home." she turned to look at the redhead in question. "I hope that won't be a problem."

The girl shook her head. "Of course not," she replied. "I'll just go tell Mandy what's going on and see if she needs a ride home."

Alexis walked off as Maura set about gathering her things. "Interesting girl." Jane commented as she stared after their witness.

Maura made a non committal sound and continued packing up, Jane got the weird sense that she was avoiding eye contact. "Speaking of interesting things," she went on, "it's interesting you offering her a place to stay."

Maura glanced up at Jane. "Do you think I shouldn't have?" she asked concerned. She wondered of she perhaps had broken some unspoken rule of etiquette regarding their fledgling relationship by inviting the young girl to stay in her guest house, she didn't think she did but then again she wasn't that we'll versed in serious committed relationships and she knew without a doubt that any relationship with the beautiful detective would be serious and committed.

Jane shrugged at her question. "It's your house Maura, you have the right to allow anyone to stay there."

Maura finally stood up straight fastening the clasp on her silver case. She looked the detective straight in the eyes observing her facial expressions. "I sense a contradiction coming?" she asked curiously if a little defensively.

Jane shrugged again. "Well I just think that she is after all a complete stranger, and since we have only her word as to what happened...?" she trailed off not wanting to accuse Alexis of anything without proof.

Maura looked from Jane to Alexis who was talking to her friend and then back at Jane. "Surely you don't think-?"

"That she did it?" asked Jane glancing at the redhead herself. "I don't think so, my gut says hell no but," she smirked at the ME. "You always say that my intestines can't talk."

Maura rolled her eyes at the detective and her 'gut' talk. "Well you did take me with you to interview her for a reason right Jane," she glanced slyly at her friend. "even if it was just a ruse to spend more time with me."

Jane gasped at her mock shock on her face. "Just a ruse? Dr Isles are you accusing me of acting unprofessionally in the field?" she smirked at the honey-blonde, while she waited patiently for Jane to be done with the theatrics. After a moment Jane slumped her shoulders. "Fine," she relented. "What did you pick up from your magical face reading mumbo-jumbo?"

Maura smiled at her. "There is absolutely nothing supernatural about recognizing facial expressions and detecting untruths from them Jane." she said with mock severity. "And from what I read from Alexis she was telling the absolute truth as it appeared to her, she was hiding something but after her eyes filled with tears at describing the shooting I realized she was holding back tears." she looked at Jane imploringly her own eyes glassy. "she's innocent Jane, and tomorrow I'll have the physical evidence to back up my claims, I just need you to trust me on this."

Jane felt like shit as she watched Maura's eyes tear up, wasn't it her just a few hours ago who had promised herself not to make her cry again. She had realized it was a fools promise and that there was no way she could keep it, but she hadn't expected to break it so soon. She hastened to make it right; lightly touching her arm, it was all the contact she could risk with prying eyes and ears in the vicinity, she spoke. "No, Maura come on, don't cry, you know I hate it when you cry. I'm sorry okay." she pleaded with Medical Examiner who's eyes had softened as soon as Jane had touched her arm. "I trust you okay, you know that, I just have to-"

Maura put her hand on Jane's. "I know Jane you have to have all your bases covered, but Jane," she said reassuringly. "Alexis isn't a threat."

Jane nodded. "Yeah Maura, I know that. If I even thought for one second that she was then there would be no way that you would be going anywhere alone with her."

Maura smiled at Jane's caveman attitude, she supposed she should be insulted at Jane assuming that she could allow the ME to do anything but she knew better. If Jane ever realized that Maura was in any danger than she would do anything to keep her safe. Maura had long ago realized that she really wasn't capable of defending herself against a determined assailant. Sure she had seen a few self defense videos and knew some of the moves but she knew where she stood in a fight, she relied on _Jane_ to keep her safe and Jane took that job very seriously. Maura realized along time ago that it was one thing to be independent but another to be stupid; and Dr Maura Isles was a lot of things but stupid was not one of them, so she as usual chose not to be insulted by Jane's chest thumping but saw it as what it was; chivalry.

Maura perked up as she saw a streak of red head towards them, she gave Jane a stern look silently telling her to behave in response to which Jane gave a look back to the honey-blonde as if to say 'who me?' Maura just rolled her eyes at her friends antics.

"Hey," Alexis said as she arrived. "Mandy said that she'll catch a ride in the limo she came in. I can go now."

Jane nodded and genuinely smiled at the redhead, she knew that it was a ridiculous idea to suspect Alexis of murder but the evidence remained evidence; she wasn't the best female detective in Boston for nothing, just because it seemed unlikely doesn't mean it wasn't possible and unfortunately unless they found evidence proving Alexis' story, she was still going to be listed on her murder board as a possible suspect.

"Come on Maura I'll walk you to the car," Jane said and motioned for the ME to walk ahead of her as they followed Alexis' around the stadium to the parking lot. It was dark out now and she could see the young girl shiver, fear written plainly on her face as if she expected the men she saw appear and silence her. Jane closed her eyes for a moment and prayed that they found evidence disproving Alexis' involvement soon; she hated thinking of this scared young girl as a murder suspect.


End file.
